


Vertigo

by RuBecSo



Category: Boardwalk Empire
Genre: 1930s, Balcony cuddles, Fluff, M/M, Tenderness, Using roundabout metaphors to express feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-27 04:20:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20039827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RuBecSo/pseuds/RuBecSo
Summary: "Give me a lever and a place to stand and I will lift the earth."In 1931, Meyer and Charlie stand on the balcony of the Waldorf-Astoria and survey the city they now control.





	Vertigo

The marble balcony was cool and smooth under Meyer’s hands. The air smelled cleaner up here, beyond the crush of odours far below. At this time of night, Manhattan was a mosaic of lights. The shapes of the skyscrapers could be picked out from the windows, the buildings themselves merely negative space between the dots of light. The tips of the tallest structures were silhouetted against a sky more gray than black. Looking south from the Waldorf-Astoria, he could see the scalloped spire of the Chrysler Building. The angular monolith of the Empire State building drew the eye most, of course. That was what it was built to do. 

Past that, the towers of Midtown melted into the tangle of the Lower East Side. Somewhere in that cluster of lights was a particular window, in a particular tenement, that opened onto a fire escape, where once a boy had looked up and tried to count the stars.

Now, looking down, Meyer found himself trying to count the windows in the same way. 

There was a point, he’d discovered, where big numbers lost their meaning. A million dollars. Seven million people. A hundred million stars. Those numbers blended together no matter how hard he tried, like pouring water into an overflowing glass.

“What you thinking about?”

The voice pulled him from his reverie. He looked over his shoulder; Charlie was leaning against the frame of the open French windows. Curls springing loose from the pomade he’d used to smooth them down. Shirt sleeves rolled up, jacket discarded, waistcoat unbuttoned. 

Meyer was silent as he considered the cloud of loosely connected thoughts floating through his mind. Then he nodded towards the outline of the Empire State.

“I was wondering how long it would’ve taken us to build that.”

An affectionate snort. “What, you reckon if we’d been in charge we’d have got it done quicker?”

Meyer shook his head. “No, I mean us. Just us. With our own hands.”

Charlie laughed again. But instead of retreating back into the hotel suite, he stepped out to stand beside him. He bent forward and rested his forearms on the balcony.

“Alright.” He took on an air of mock seriousness as he thought through the hypothetical. “What do we have? We got cranes, trucks, forklifts?”

Meyer shook his head.

“Do we start out with the, er,” Charlie gestured towards the distant structure in that loose, free way of his, “the steel and brick and glass and stuff?”

“Hmm… no.”

“So we gotta dig all that out the ground first?”

Meyer tilted his head to the side. “Yes, I think so.”

Charlie stepped closer and lowered his head so he could whisper in Meyer’s ear:

“I hate to break it to you Little Meyer, but I don’t think it’s getting built.”

That brought a chuckle up through Meyer’s chest. It was joined by Charlie’s own. Once their laughter had died down, they stood for a while in a comfortable quiet. The sounds of the city at night drifted up from far below. Distant voices. Muffled car engines. His head came to rest on Charlie’s shoulder, Charlie’s head on his own. 

Meyer wasn’t sure how much time passed before he broke the silence:

“‘Give me a lever and a place to stand and I will lift the earth.’”

“Mm?” Charlie’s head jerked up as if waking from a nap. “What’s that?”

“It’s a quote from Archimedes.”

“He was one of those old Greek guys, yeah?”

“Yeah.” He paused for a moment, eyes flicking upwards as he pulled down a fact stored in his memory. “Though actually he lived in Sicily.”

That elicited another soft snort from Charlie.

“And he thought he could lift the earth?”

Meyer smiled. “I think it was more of a thought experiment.”

Charlie brought his head back down to rest on Meyer’s.

“What made you think of that?”

Again, Meyer was quiet as he tried to put his thoughts together. Charlie nuzzled him gently while he waited.

“That’s what this city is.” He laid his hand flat on the balcony again. “It’s a lever.”

His eyes were fixed on the sea of lights before him, but he felt Charlie’s hand cover his.

“So what’s it lifting?”

Meyer remembered the first time he stood on a balcony like this. He’d been with Charlie back then, too. It had been at A.R’s place, the first time he invited them to speak with him personally. He remembered how terrifyingly high it had been. The twinge at the base of his spine when he’d looked over the edge. How he’d clung to the balcony like the sky-scraper was some enormous beast that might throw him off at any moment.

Now the stone seemed to rise up to meet his palm. Solid, yet malleable. 

He looked up at Charlie and smiled.

“Whatever we want it to.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first bit of non-roleplay fiction I’ve written in a while, so feedback would be greatly appreciated :)


End file.
